Three Right Words
by danafuchs
Summary: Both Mulder and Scully do some thinking after she leaves his apartment in 3 Words.
1. A Question of Time

Title: Three Right Words  
Author: DanaFuchs ()  
Rating: K+  
Spoilers: 3 Words  
Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance. Alternate Universe  
Archive: Yes. But let me know where, please.  
Feedback: Always! I'm living for it!  
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine... They belong to Chris Carter, 1013 and Fox. I'm not making any money with this and I'm not  
making any money anyway, so don't sue me, please...  
I don't own the lyrics I used as introduction of the parts either  
Summary: Both Mulder and Scully do some thinking after she leaves his apartment in 3 Words.

Three Right Words

Chapter 1 – A question of time  
"Still a little bit of your song  
In my ear  
Still a little bit of your words  
I long to hear"  
(Damien Rice – Cannonball)

The weak light was cut as if by a blade. A muted click.  
The door closes behind me. Although the sun is shining and the birds are singing, only a little bit of light falls through the curtains into the apartment.  
Thankful, I let the darkness wrap around me and lean back against the door.  
Slowly I close my eyes and take a deep breath, while I soak up the silence. The soft humming of my refrigerator and the ticking of the clock in the living room are to only sounds, penetrating my ear from outside.

However, I hear the voices inside my head more clearly now. The words are tangled and I don't even try to concentrate on one of the voices. I know, that the voices are asking questions. Questions that I cannot answer, questions that scare me, questions that begin with the word 'Why'.

A new question has joined the whirlwind of words in my head. "Why is it so strange?"  
I cannot answer this question either, I had been expecting, no hoping, that everything would be alright when Mulder returned. I had given up that hope, at that time, when I was standing at his grave and the questions were hurting me almost as much as the grief.

The silence in Mulder's apartment had been hurting me more than I had expected, too. It had been a strange silence. A depressing silence. After all we had spent days and nights sitting silently next to each other in a car during the last years.  
I long for that intimate, friendly silence.

My hand wanders slowly over my stomach, gently tracing the curve. We have to talk, I know that. What I don't know is how.  
I see in his eyes that he is confused. I understand that. He isn't the only one to be confused.  
He needs time to process.  
But I *need* to talk to him. About the future. Mine, his, *ours*.

I'd only have to answer one question to make him talk to me. The question is written large on his face. I see it every time he looks at me. I can even feel it when he is watching me.  
It is the question, which everyone wants to be answered, only that nobody dares to ask it.

Sighing, I sink down on my sofa.  
I don't know the answer to the question myself. It is the question which is scaring me the most. The only question that doesn't begin with 'Why', but with 'Who'.  
Until that dreadful night we found his body, I had hoped, prayed that Mulder would come back – and that he would know the answers to all the questions. That everything would be alright.  
Now, I'm not even sure which answer I wish for.  
It would be so much easier if I knew which answer he wishes for.

I can feel the need to reach for the phone increasing steadily. I resist.  
He needs time – and if I can't give him answers, I can at least give him time.


	2. Life After Death

Chapter 2 - Life after death  
"The world we knew  
Won't come back  
The time we've lost  
Can't get back"  
(Three Days Grace – Never To Late)

*Click*. The door closes behind her.  
I am alone. I was alone there, too – wherever I've been.  
Sighing, I lean back and close my eyes.  
Silence.  
The silence was unfamiliar to me – where I've been the humming and buzzing of various devises had always been audible in the background.  
Although the devises had been terrifying, I had become used to the noises and even found them comforting.  
I don't want to think of that place anymore, can't deal with it anymore – it would be too painful.

I force my thoughts to change their path. They wander off in their favourite direction.  
A picture of Scully appears in front of my mind's eye.  
The brief memory manages to put a smile upon my face.  
Suddenly the picture gets blurry. It changes.

It is still Scully I see, but the new picture is more up to date.  
Scully is pregnant.  
I opened my eyes and stare into the space she had filled until a few moments ago. She hadn't talked about the pregnancy up to now. Neither had I. A few brief comments had been all.  
Actually she hadn't even told me about it.  
But her condition was obvious even without a degree in gynaecology.

I have no idea how to behave toward her.  
I can't believe it.  
Despite her neutral, calm behaviour, I know that Scully feels those insecurities, too. Her eyes told me.  
It only took her a second to regain her composure, but this short moment was enough for me to see what was going on inside her.  
Joy and happiness, but also confusion and angst had been in her stare.  
Her eyes begged me to explain everything to her.

All I did was staring at her, as if she were the first pregnant woman on this planet, and ask her a question with my own stare, which she probably couldn't answer herself.  
*Who?*

As Scully's pregnancy is totally unexplainable, it has to be manipulated.  
*They* just have to be behind it.  
She was probably abducted again – for such a short period of time that no one noticed – and they had implanted the embryo.  
The origin of the embryo wasn't clear either.  
Was it a product of human ova – maybe not even Scully's – and extraterrestrial DNA?  
Or was it a healthy human embryo? A gift *they* gave her to distract her from searching for me and searching the truth?

These theories sound plausible and incredible at the same time.  
I need Scully to question them so I can develop them further. Without Scully, I can't solve this puzzle. Without Scully, I'm helpless, unable to make even one rational thought. Without Scully, I'm nothing.  
Sighing, I stretch out on the couch.

When I wake again, it's dark.  
A smile spreads across my face as the memory of my dream returns piece by piece.  
Suddenly a new theory pops into my head.  
My heart begins to race at the mere thought of it.

I want it to be true. I want Scully to want it to be true.  
My heart skips a beat as the memory of Scully asking me to be the father of her child forces its way into my consciousness.  
I know that Scully also wants my theory to be true.  
I glance at the clock. After midnight.  
It is late, but I *have* to go to her, before it is too late.


	3. Sleeping Beauty

Chapter 3 – Sleeping Beauty  
"Never opened myself this way  
Life is ours, we live it our way  
All these words I don't just say  
And nothing else matters"  
(Metallica – Nothing Else Matters)

Mulder pushes a strand of hair out of my face carefully. Wasn't he holding the baby? Searching, I look around. No sign of a baby.  
Suddenly I'm hovering in the air.  
I blink. A dream. But I really am hovering. I wrench my eyes open. Somebody has lifted me up.

"Shh, Scully," he whispers gently in my ear, "you fell asleep on the sofa. I'll put you to bed."  
Wearily, I wrap my arms around his neck, while my eyes shut again and I try to remember how I got to the sofa in the first place.  
Right. I'd gone out with Mom, to keep me from calling him. Afterwards I took a long bath and then got comfortable in my pyjamas on the sofa.  
Since I couldn't even remember which channel I watched, I must have been asleep soon.

When I open my eyes again, Mulder is gently lowering me onto my bed.  
"Mulder, what are you doing here?" I asked still sleepy.  
"Putting you to bed," he whispers as if that was a normal thing.  
I'm lying on my side and manage to glimpse at the digital display of my alarm clock.  
1:30 am.  
"Mulder…" I look in his direction only to notice that he doesn't stand there anymore. It takes a moment until my eyes find him again in the darkness. He's walking around the bed.  
"That's not why you are here, though," I mention. I'm too tired for long discussions, but I have to know why he is here.

He shook his head.  
"No," he admitted.  
I try to roll onto my back, to be able to see him better, but his arm reaches out and stills my movement.  
Before I can say anything, I feel the mattress dip behind me, as he crawls under the blanket with me and spoons up behind me.  
His right arm snakes under my head, while his left hand rests on my hip. I almost forgot how good it feels to be near him.  
I want to snuggle closer to him with a content sigh, but the sigh becomes a hurting "Oh!" and I wince instead of relaxing.

Mulder's hand wanders from my hip to his.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't want…" he begins but interrupts himself at my soft chuckle.  
My hand reaches for his and drags it along.  
Carefully I place our joined hands on my stomach. Warmth spreads from the spot his hand lays.  
"Someone hasn't been woken gently enough and decided to get back at mommy," I explain.  
A wince again, but this time it is Mulder's turn to let out a surprised yet fascinated "Oh!" as he notices the child kicking, too.

We are silent for a few minutes and simply enjoy being together. I can feel my eyelids getting heavy and decided to break the silence, before I fall asleep without knowing what caused this nightly visit.  
"Mulder?"  
"Mmmm", he mumbles, sounding as content as I feel.  
"Why are you here?"  
"I dreamt."

*A dream.* I'm wide awake again immediately.  
"A nightmare? Do you want to talk about it?" I asked concerned. He places a quick kiss on my cheek and I can feel him smiling.  
"No. Everything but that." He pulls me closer to him and buries his face in my hair.  
"I dreamt of you," he whispers softly.  
I take his hand from my stomach and squeeze it, not knowing what else to do or say.  
"Of you…" he kisses my cheek again, "and of the baby."  
Tears well up inside my eyes and I feel like my heart is going to explode because it beats too fast.  
I swallow the tears and kiss the back of his hand while pressing myself even closer to him.

"I can't remember everything," he continues, "But I can still see some pictures of you. How you hold the baby… How it takes its firsts steps… school enrolment…" His voice fades as I cannot hold back the tears anymore and they drop onto his hand.  
"Scully?" he asked concerned and unbelievably loving. I still cannot say anything and he doesn't force me to, but starts showering my hair, forehead and cheeks with kisses instead.

"I've been thinking," he finally says. "I've got a theory."  
"Theory?" I repeat questioningly.  
"Either," his hand roams over my stomach again, "this is like in a fairy tale…"  
"Fairy tale, Mulder?"  
"Yes, as in Sleeping Beauty, who could only be woken by the kiss of the man she was meant to be with," he explained with an audible grin. I had to smile, too.  
*You are this man* it popped into my head.  
"What's the other possibility?" I asked carefully. I'm not sure if I'd like it.

"Scully, what if the chip in your neck," he kisses to scar to emphasize his words, "undoes everything that was done to you and doesn't only prevent the cancer from coming back."  
"Mulder, I don't understand what…"  
"I think it is possible that all the… damage… will be repaired. Only that some things are repaired slower than others."  
I shake my head.  
"That wouldn't have gone unnoticed when we…"  
"You are the medical doctor," he interrupts, "but if I recall it correctly, the female body contains the complete ova from birth, but it takes some time until they are completely developed."  
I nod hesitantly.  
"So it would theoretically be possible that, it was just a matter of time after you had the chip implanted until you…"  
*Until we* my brain corrected.  
"Theoretically, Mulder," I interrupt him, as in the good old times.  
He nods.  
"I know, Scully," he yawns, "tests, investigations and scientific solutions."

A can feel the exhaustion come back, too.  
I actually wanted to tell him, that I just realized that it doesn't matter to me. 'Why?' even 'Who?' doesn't matter. As long as he is here.  
"We should discuss this tomorrow," I yawn as well. "I prefer the first possibility, anyway," I admit.  
He smiles and I close my eyes.  
We are silent for a while. I can feel his breathing becoming shallow. Just as I think he's asleep, he whispers: "Dana?"  
I'm surprised he's using my first name, but I don't say anything.  
It sounds good.  
"Dana?" he whispers again, barely audible.  
He waits for a reaction that shows him that I'm not asleep. I wait.  
"I love you," he breaths softly. I am too happy to answer.


End file.
